Civic body did not receive any grant for cleaning Buddha Nullah, reveals RTI

Harshraj Singh

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 5

Many politicians have made tall claims about funds released for cleaning of the Buddha Nullah in the past. But, in response to the RTI application, The Deputy Controller (Finance and Accounts), Municipal Corporation (MC), has given information that the civic body had not received any grant from the Central and Punjab Governments for cleaning of the Buddha Nullah.

The information obtained under the RTI application also revealed that no MP or MLA had released any grant to the MC for cleaning of the Buddha Nullah.

It has come to light that the MC has spent around Rs 9.55 crore on cleaning of the Buddha Nullah since 2000, but the civic body failed to stop pollution in the stream.

Earlier, the Council of RTI Activists president, Rohit Sabharwal, had filed an RTI application to obtain information about the Buddha Nullah from January 2001 till date.

“Many ministers, members of parliament and other elected representatives had announced publicly about funds released for cleaning of the Buddha Nullah. But, the civic body has given information that neither the Central or state governments nor any MP or MLA released any grant to the MC for cleaning of the Buddha Nullah during the past 20 years,” said Sabharwal.

“A probe should be ordered to find whether claims made by politicians are true or not and if any grant has been released where this money has gone?” Sabharwal added.

Pollution in the Buddha Nullah remains an issue during Lok Sabha, Vidhan Sabha and the MC polls. Successive governments have failed to make the nullah pollution free. Earlier, many projects were announced to clean the nullah, but to no avail.

Untreated waste from factories, dairy complexes and sewer is dumped into the Buddha Nullah from different points in the city. The polluted nullah further pollutes Sutlej River.